The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

The holy grail of social media, for most business users, is when a follower or fan decides to purchase something from you. It does not matter if the purchase is from an advertisement or from a non-paid post, tweet, or update. 86 percent of followers are more likely to recommend your product or service to friends and family.

That's a whopping percentage. Business users are involved with social media to "move the needle" as the expression goes and this data gives some solid ammunition for anyone trying to convince upper management about the value of social media.

In a Small Business Trends post yesterday, Shawn Hessinger reported on a fresh study that showed 72 percent of Twitter followers are more likely to make a purchase from you. That's good news for just about any business using social tools. If you build a relationship with followers/fans/users in social media, they will more seriously consider your company when making a purchase decision.

According to the Twitter blog post, Twitter hired the global research firm Market Probe International to survey 500 people over age 18, across several verticals in the US and UK, who currently follow SMBs on Twitter. We think the findings are useful to many kinds of small and medium-sized businesses. Their goal, it appears, is to understand the value of Twitter for business users.

Followers drive sales and recommendations. In addition to that 72 percent stat above, if a friend recommends a business, 86 percent state that they will visit that SMB (due to the friend's reco).

Followers feel an emotional connection to SMBs. 63 percent want to show support for that business.

Followers want to be in the know and offer feedback. The post highlights that "a common reason people follow SMBs is to get updates on future products (73%)."

Marketing with Twitter helps you reach more customers.

To be balanced in this post, many users get little value out of social media efforts. They don't see sales or benefits. Forrester shared about a long-known fact -- that many business users (B2B) are lurkers, spectators. Zachary Reiss-Davis shares some stats to help you figure out, which, if any, social tool is a fit for your business use: In Business, Everybody Uses Social Media For Work: The Question Is How.

I can't imagine there are many business owners or executives who are not on, and using, one of the top three social networks. But if you are on that fence, let this data help you move into the stream of increased opportunity and profits. Sure, you can debate the usefulness of one network over another, but the reality is marketing, sales, and business in general is increasingly social and transparent.